Residents go without water, power supply on I-Day

Tribune News Service

JAMMU, August 16

Two major departments, the power development department (PDD) and public health engineering (PHE) department, subjected city residents to great hardships on the occasion of Independence Day, which coincided with Raksha Bandhan on Thursday, as many localities in the old city remained without power and water supply.

In certain areas, the residents even missed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

What added to their woes was the non-availability of water supply to certain localities, including Panjthirthi, Mubarak Mandi, Pacci Dhaki, Jain Bazaar and adjoining areas, for two consecutive days.

“It was the auspicious festival of Raksha Bandhan and we could not even take bath due to non-availability of water. In old city, the people have limited storage capacity and the PHE authorities did not provide water for two continuous days. The administration seems to have virtually crumbled,” Samriti Khajuria, a resident of Pacci Dhaki, said.

A senior official of the PHE department said the high level of silt in Tawi river due to flash floods affected the pumping station at Sitlee filtration plant, due to which the water supply got affected for two days.

“We have now been able to resume normal water supply to affected areas. No doubt people faced a lot of problems but we were helpless due to the unwarranted situation,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev Kumar, another resident, fumed, “The authorities gave the excuse that high level of silt in the Tawi river disturbed the water supply. The poor contingency plans of PHE authorities stand exposed”.

Similarly, city residents also faced long and frequent power cuts amid the hot and humid weather conditions and blamed the authorities for subjecting them to punishment on a festive occasion. The reason behind the power cut could not be known.